Editing Onan (section)

==Biblical account==

After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)|Er]], Onan's father [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 |title=The Jewish Study Bible |date=2014 |editor-first=Adele |editor-last=Berlin|editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2=Brettler|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 |edition=Second |location=Oxford |oclc=892869165 |quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 |title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 |date=1995 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co |isbn=0-8028-2309-2 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |oclc=31604392 |quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=1st |pages=218 |quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 |title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |editor-first1=David Noel|editor-last1=Freedman |isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 |location=New Haven, Conn. |oclc=237189110 |quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead  brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah  commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=John J. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 |title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 |edition=Third |publisher=Fortress Press| location=Minneapolis |oclc=1031462523 |quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 |title=The Oxford Bible commentary |date=2001 |editor-first=John |editor-last=Barton|editor-first2=John |editor-last2=Muddiman |isbn=0-19-875500-7 |location=Oxford |oclc=45879881 |quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 |title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. |date=2015 |publisher=Abingdon Press |editor=Leander E. Keck |isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 |location=Nashville, Tennessee |oclc=892041536 |quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother  (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 |title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha |date=2018 |editor-first=Michael David |editor-last=Coogan|editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2=Brettler|editor-first3=Carol A. |editor-last3=Newsom|editor-first4=Pheme |editor-last4=Perkins |isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 |edition=Fully revised fifth |location=New York, New York |oclc=1006596851 |quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of  a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage:  any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>

When Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before he ejaculated<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN|0802824005}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 |title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. |date=2015 |publisher=Abingdon Press |editor=Leander E. Keck |isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 |location=Nashville, Tennessee |oclc=892041536 |quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship  in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon  Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his  duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to  Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''[[Coitus interruptus|coitus interuptus]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=1st |pages=218 |quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN|0446524794}}, {{ISBN|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=1st |pages=218 |quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 |title=The Jewish Study Bible |date=2014 |editor-first=Adele |editor-last=Berlin|editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2=Brettler|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 |edition=Second |location=Oxford |oclc=892869165 |quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is  legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Walton |first=John H. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 |title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life |date=2001 |isbn=0-310-20617-0 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich |oclc=46872206 |quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mathews |first=K. A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 |title=Genesis |date=1996–2005 |publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers |isbn=0-8054-0101-6 |location=Nashville, Tenn. |oclc=33207787 |quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref|Genesis|38:8-10|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/>

However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web |title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 |title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |editor-first1=David Noel | editor-last1=Freedman |isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 |location=New Haven, Conn. |oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

=== Family tree ===
{{Judah and Tamar family tree}}